Shane Jones spoke with Leighton Smith this morning about the Greens and Mining. Based on his comments in the NZ Herald this morning:
“We in Maoridom must not buy uncritically into the hostile rhetoric from the Greenies.
“It’s about time they showed as much concern for the brown kiwis disappearing to Aussie as for the habitat of the brown spotted kiwi.”
With limited opportunities in farming or tourism, the extractive industries were the best opportunities for jobs and economic advancement for Northland Maori.
“There is an ethic of guardianship in our national culture and no one should deny that but there’s also an awareness that each generation has got to create jobs and got to search for ways to create wealth.
“We can only create greater wealth by boosting our export earnings. Those things are capable of coming to pass with a sensible environmental framework.”
It is well worth a listen:
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(10:59)
But it’s not just the Greens that Jones should be having a go at, Labour Leadership contender Grant Robertson is running a full-scale scare campaign on oil and mineral exploration.
